Shimon ben Lakish

Shimon ben Lakish (Hebrew: שמעון בן לקיש; Imperial Aramaic: שמעון בר לקיש Shim‘on bar Lakish or bar Lakisha), better known by his nickname Reish Lakish (c. 200 — c. 275), was an amora who lived in the Roman province of Judaea in the third century. He was reputedly born in Bosra, east of the Jordan River, around 200 CE, but lived most of his life in Sepphoris.^[1] Nothing is known of his ancestry except his father's name.

He is something of an anomaly among the important people of Torah study as, according to the Babylonian Talmud, he was in his early youth a bandit and a gladiator.

He was regarded as one of the most prominent amoraim of the second generation, the other being his brother-in-law and halakhic opponent, Johanan bar Nappaha.